(Anderson) Herald Bulletin
A team effort succeeded in raising the majority of area public school districts’ scores from the annual Indiana Reading Evaluation and Determination (IREAD-3) assessment, a test given to measure foundational reading skills among the state’s third graders.
A common thread could be seen in comments from local educators — teamwork among educators, students and the community.
We commend our educators for fighting the uphill battle to recover what educational progress was lost during the COVID-19 pandemic with the lack of in-classroom instruction.
The students, as well, deserve recognition for overcoming a setback that is unprecedented in recent generations of children. For over a year, most of these kids experienced education at kitchen tables with parents, grandparents and babysitters helping out as best they could.
And those folks deserve a hand as well. While the bulk of education takes place at school, there is no substitute for support from parents and guardians at home.
Among Madison County districts, South Madison led the way, with 94% of its third graders passing the assessment, compared to 86.4% last year.
“This accomplishment is a testament to all the hard work that our students, staff and community put in every year,” said Valerie Steger, principal at Maple Ridge Elementary School.
Among the county’s individual elementary buildings, Maple Ridge had the highest pass rate on the assessment, 97.9%
Administrators at Anderson Community Schools attributed improvements both districtwide and at five of six elementary schools to smaller class sizes and healthy parental support.
ACS Superintendent Joe Cronk said district leaders are encouraged by the overall improvement on IREAD-3, but more work remains to be done.
State education leaders said continued improvement will be needed to achieve their stated goal of seeing 95% of students pass IREAD-3 by 2027.
If that goal is to be achieved, our local schools seem to have found the formula for success — a collaborative and cooperative effort between students, teachers and parental guardians.
Send comments to [email protected].
